Mallica Vajrathon

Helvi Sipila & Lucille Mair

mallica — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:48:47 +0000

I join my friend Rachel Mayanja, Assistant UN Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women in celebrating the lives of Helvi Sipila of Finland and Lucille Mair of Jamaica. The two women who worked at the United Nations Headquarters in the seventies provided leadership in organizing the first and second world conferences on Women: The World Conference of the International Women’s Year held in Mexico City in 1975, and the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievement of the United Nations Decade for Women in Copenhagen in 1980. To this day, their valuable contributions have made a lot of difference in the improvement of women’s lives no matter where they live in the world. At the United Nations Headquarters on 9 March 2010, the Permanent Mission to the United Nations of Finland and Jamaica organized a special event in connection to the 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women “The Road to Beijing: Critical Building Blocks. In memoriam to Helvi Sipila and Lucille Mair.” Rachel and I are fortunate to have had an opportunity to work under their leadership in the preparations of the world conferences. Both women came from a very different background from a different parts of the world, but they shared the same dedication to the cause of women’s right and their full participation in World’s Affairs. Their tireless energy and dedication contributed greatly to the success in drafting the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1979. But they believed that enacting law against discrimination on the ground of sex is not enough. We should look at the role of women in development. Development must included women as full participant and beneficiaries. And that the basic factors causing the unequal share of women in development relate to the division of labour between the sexes. Both Helvi Sipila and Lucille Mair made sure that the World plans and programmes of action clearly stated that discrimination against women arises because of women’s reproductive role. Historically, the division of labour has been justified on the basis of the childbearing function of women.

Justice Is Served In Thailand

mallica — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:05:11 +0000

After a long wait, Thailand Supreme Court made a historic ruling on the 26 of February 2010 that the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is guilty as charged of policy corruption to aid his family’s companies and businesses while in office. He was also found guilty of illegally concealed his assets, and abusing his power. The judges voted to confiscate Bt46.37 billion of his money gained during his four years that he was in Prime Minister’s office. But the judges decided to return to him Bt30.24 that belonged to him before 2001. I think the verdict is fair and just for Thaksin himself who will get nearly half of his frozen assets back. And as for the country especially the Thai taxpayers, they will get the money gained illegally by Thaksin to return to the country’s coffer. Not big amount comparre to the lost in billions during the time when Thaksin was leading the government. I am glad that the verdict explained in details how it is against the law for the Prime Minister, while in office, to run his own business through nominees such as his wife, children, relatives and servants with the intention of concealing his holding of 1.41 million shares in Shin Corp. and that it is wrong for Thaksin to use his authority in the cabinet to pass laws that converted telecom concession fees into excise tax to benefit his own company. I also want to ask what kind of a father is he to use his children, at their very young age, as business nominees that gets them into a legal quagmire of tax evading problems with the authority? It is sad to see this kind of a family tragedy of parents, such as Thaksin and his former wife Pojaman, leading their three children into many more criminal and perjury cases that will follow the Supreme Court verdict in many years to come. This bad experience will effect them for the rest of their lives.

Marriage & Civil Union

mallica — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:20:51 +0000

“Marriage” is an invention by human beings in organized society ever since the beginning of agricultural society to guarantee inheritance and legal ownership of land and other property of men including women and children. Marriage is not made in heaven as some religions have claimed. It has various forms in diverse cultures which have been changing them through times. National and state laws are being changed in order to embrace all situations relating to marriage to benefit the majority and not only a small group of people. Existing laws that deny equality of rights, such as the right to civil union and marriage are considered as discriminations. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), particularly Article 15 and 16 which require that the State parties to the Convention ensure the same right, on the basis of equality, to women and men to enter into marriage, to freely choose a spouse, and to take responsibility as parents in matters relating to children, including adoption. “Marriage” and “Civil Union”, are social and economic contracts affecting the fundamental right of all human beings, the right for individual to live with a chosen partner or partners. Such institutions should be opened for every one to enter freely with any individuals of their choice, whether of the same or of different sexes. And also on the principle of separation of Church and States, people who choose to live together under a marriage contract should not be discriminated against because of their sexual preferences. State is under obligation to provide legal registration for such union as a service to its citizen.

New Sun Probe

mallica — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:41:07 +0000

We will know more about the behavior of the Sun when scientists, with the help of the US space agency, NASA, launched a new mission to study the Sun. From this mission, the Solar Dynamic Observatory will have new image of the Sun which can tell us how the Sun will affect the future earth’s environment, especially the weather, and also how the activity of the Sun disrupt satellite communication. This is an important step and significant progress in the field of the solar physics. I am hopeful for the success of this mission in probing further the inner workings of the activity of the Sun which will increase our knowledge of the solar flare and its explosive magnetic fields because the survival of all life on this Planet Earth depends on the Sun and its activity.

Support Full Ban On The Veil

mallica — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:00:25 +0000

In her book, Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World” my friend, Fatima Mernissi wrote “Hijab is manna from heaven for politicians facing crises, it is not just a scrap of cloth; it is a division of labor; it sends women back to the kitchen.” In the modern world facing economic and natural disaster crisis, we have to make use of the able physical and brain power of all women and men to get us out of the problems of, for example, joblessness, economic down turn, and nation-building. If the recent earthquake in Haiti takes place instead in the Gulf states area, are we not to use all capable human beings, men and women, to dig up the injured victims out from collapsed buildings? Can “veiled” women covering their face, do the physically challenging work wearing an awkwardly long black dress, effectively saving the victim’s life? For me, covering-up faces and bodies of the female population in any country has less to do with following a religion but more to do with blindly following an archaic “patriarchy” tradition of oppression of women. Burqa is against the human rights of women. France is doing the right thing in putting this issue out for an opened public discussions and parliamentary debates. There should not be any compromise or an exception for any group of people that do not follow the French law on gender equality and/or on the grounds of security from terrorism. The French Parliamentary Committee’s Report said that the wearing of the full veil is a challenge to their republic principles of secularism and equality which is unacceptable. I agree with members of the French National Assembly and the French people in supporting the full ban on the veil.

The “C” rated Accord

mallica — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:05:56 +0000

“We have a deal in Copenhagen,” UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon said, referring to the Copenhagen Accord. I rated the “deal” as a “C” Accord. But many world leaders had exaggerated the importance of the Climate Deal. They came up with a new deal at the end of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference (Dec-7-18) and called it an “unprecedented breakthrough” or “a major step forward.” The fact is, this “deal” was whipped up by only five countries, Brazil, China, India, United States and South Africa for fearing that there would not be any agreed outcome from the Copenhagen Conference. Leaders of other countries (outside of those fives) were divided on how to end the Conference without an agreed negotiated text. They wanted a legally binding treaty to replace the soon-to-be-expired “Kyoto Treaty” which 187 delegations voted for in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. Reluctantly, those leaders decided to “take note” of the “Copenhagen Accord”instead of formally approving it. The text of the agreement includes a method for verifying each nations reduction of green-house gases, an emergency aid to poor developing countries and a reduction of carbon emission to keep the increase in average global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius. The accord failed on a binding deal to reduce green-house gases and on a concrete plan to protect the tropical forests. Most of the Conference’s participants were disappointed that they did not have legally binding treaty. After two years of negotiations, in several UN meetings venues in Indonesia, Thailand and Germany, I am also disappointed that in the end of the negotiation process, we did not have a new treaty on Climate Change. From reading the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) on “Climate Change 2007”, we know that in the absence of mitigation policies, there is a possibility of disappearance of sea ice by the end of the 21st century. That there will be increase in frequency of hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation, and in tropical cyclone intensity. Scientists have predicted the decrease in water resources due to climate change in the Mediterranean Basin, western United States, southern Africa and north-eastern Brazil. There is also a possibility of Greenland ice sheet disappearance resulting in the rise of sea-level of about 7 meters. While 20-30 percent of species assessed so far will be at risk of extinction if increases in global average warming exceed 1.5 to 2.5 degree Celsius. Climate change is expected to exacerbate current stress on water resources from population growth and economic land-use change. And there will be a significant future increase in heavy rainfall, resulting in flooding of many regions of the world. Climate change increases atmospheric carbon dioxide that will make the oceans become acidic. The consequences of which could be serious for all forms of marine organisms and other forms of life. I agree whole heartedly with Tara Buakamsri, a campaign manager of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, that the World must take decisive action on climate change. I don’t think we should allow world leaders to continue wasting of time making ineffective deals after deals based on their narrow local political and economic interests, thus compromising the safety of us and future generations.

Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

mallica — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:26:38 +0000

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said at the opening ceremony that if the temperature increase is to be limited to between 2.0 and 2.4 C, global emissions must peak no later than 2015 — barely six years from now. By December 18, I hope that the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference will conclude with an agreement that ensure a secure climate future for us all and for the future generations. There is no time to wait for a concerted action to protect people and our planet from global warming. Mitigation of emissions is essential. China, United States and India are the three major greenhouse gas polluters in the world. Therefore, they are key to the success of this important Conference. They should come up with a common strategy and mitigation action to cut their emissions by 25 to 45 percent compared with 1990 levels by 2020. Small Island states, the most vulnerable to global warming and the rise of sea-water, calls for a target of keeping the temperature rise since pre-industrial times below 1.5 C. They are also concerned about funding to help them deal with the impact of climate change. It is hopeful that the European Union has pledged to contribute $10.6 billion over the next three years to help the poorer countries in adapting to climate change. I think government representatives should seriously consider the recommendations from the People’s Climate Summit taking place at a sports facilities in Central Copenhagen, to completely stop the use of fossil fuels within the next 30 years and to bring down the carbon dioxide emissions to not more than one ton per capita in each single country by 2025. Whether there will be an agreed text at the end of the Conference is anybody’s guest. I hope representatives of 192 countries that attended this Conference will base their negotiations on the survival of humankind and the future generations, and not on their country narrow domestic economic interests. We, the people of the world, are waiting for a new Copenhagen agreement that will add to what had already been agreed to in the Kyoto Protocol, adopted on 11 December 1997 in Japan by 187 states to combat global warming.

Climate Change & Progress On Clean Energy

mallica — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:16:28 +0000

Government officials at several recent regional and inter-regional meetings held this month from cities of Stockholm to Singapore, promised to take action together on climate change. This is good news to me, for those who are working to prepare the big United Nations meeting in December this year in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Climate Change. At the Russia – EU Summit on 18 November, Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev promised to reduce its greenhouse gas emission by 25% from 1990 levels. The European Union and Russia also agreed on the two-degree target and the need for emission reductions. Two days earlier on 15 November, the First ASEAN – US Leaders” Summit, held in Singapore Co-chaired by Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Chairman of ASEAN, and US President Barack Obama, leaders stressed the importance of access to diverse, reliable, and affordable clean energy to sustain economic growth. They agreed to diversify energy supplies and strengthen energy security. They said that ways will also be found for future cooperation in renewable and alternative energy such as hydropower and biofuels. The Joint Statement – 1st ASEAN – US Leaders’ Meeting indicates future close-working relationships on Climate Change, especially on the improvement of research on climate impacts, the development, and action on appropriate policies and measures. The US – China Clean Energy Announcement of 17 November also is a good sign that there will be active cooperation and future cooperation on the clean energy front between these two big powers.

Women Access & Control of Resources

mallica — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:31:49 +0000

The World Survey on the Role of Women in Development this year focuses on women’s lack of access to and control over economic resources: land, water, various types of property, financial and social protection. The Survey gives us clear insight into the gender inequality of macro-economic policies and structures in the world in key areas of employment and labour-market. Global financial crisis exacerbates this problem that we should solve it by drawing-up the new national development strategy. Gender analysis must first be done to find out how the economic growth or recession effected men and women differently. Experts recommended the new monetary policy of gender-responsive budgeting to deal with existing inequality. They also underscored the importance of the under-representation of women in finance and economic Institutions in most member countries of the United Nations. The Bank of Thailand is one of the few exceptions of solving this “male-dominated/under-representation of women” problem. It now has the female Central Bank Governor for the first time in the Bank’s history, Mrs.Tarisa Watanagase. Central Bank of any country is one such economic/financial structure that determined macro-economic policy. I find the Survey useful in giving me additional knowledge concentrating on women in the informal and non-standard forms of employment, and the unequal distribution of unpaid care work in the household. Without pay, or almost no community support system, a large number of women around the world continue to endure the burden of being the only sex that care for the sick, handicapped, and/or aging family members, and in many cases, in addition to their income earning jobs in the labour market. The 2009 Survey predicted that the promotion of women’s access to economic and financial resources would become an investment on the welfare of the next generation. I think that the problem of “women lack of control and access to resources” is urgent enough that we should solve it right now so women of this generation can enjoy better quality of life.

Gender Issue in Peace and Security

mallica — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:47:43 +0000

On the 5th of October 2009, the United Nations Security Council conducted an opened debate on the needs of women and girls in post-conflict situations for sustainable peace and security. The Security Council recognizes the importance of gender mainstreaming at all stages of the peace process since its adoption in 2000 of the Resolution 1325 on
Women, Peace and Security. Gender mainstreaming is about making sure that programs and policies designed by any organization, fund, and agency takes into account the differences between men and women in terms of political, economic and social opportunities, in design, implementation and evaluation. Gender analysis helps us to understand the mainstream political and development context, because it identifies differences between women and men in political, economic and social domains. The analysis is needed to find out whether or not these differences lead to inequality. In peace and security, it is the finding out of different roles of women and men in peacekeeping, peace building, and post-conflict reconstruction action. Gender analysis enables us to know where policy and resource interventions can promote programs that lead to gender equality and human rights. On debated topic, the needs of women and girls in post-conflict situations for sustainable peace and security, I think it is necessary to do gender analysis of all situations leading up to the conflict and in post-conflict follow-up. To find out who does what in conflict and post-conflict areas, who has access to resources that can be used to end violence and aggression, and for peace building. Fund is always needed for projects to target gender issues. The lack of funds for women’s needs reflect the inadequate participation of women in decision-making in the peace process, and post-conflict planning. During the opened debate, members of the Security Council did have a chance to review the past nine years of implementation of Resolution 1325. They also had a chance to evaluate the impact of conflicts in various parts of the world on women and girls, and to estimate their needs in post-conflict situations. It is my hope that they have found the ways and means to promote and sustain women’s role, as active decision-maker in post-conflict reconstruction. I don’t think women should be treated in the same way as girls or minors as “helpless victims” of conflict. Adult women and men should be treated in the same way because both are creators of many conflicts. Therefore, they should work together as peace makers – involved in all actions from peace negotiations, to conflict resolutions.